The mannequins in Rutgers-Camden’s nursing lab are about to get a lot smarter.
Soon, students in the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden won’t just practice on static training dummies — they’ll work with high-fidelity patient simulators, electronic medical record systems and AI-enabled simulation technology designed to mirror the exact equipment they’ll use once they’re working nurses.
The upgrade comes courtesy of Johnson & Johnson, which gave $300,000 to Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden and the Rutgers University Foundation to fully modernize the school’s Simulation Lab — soon to be renamed the Johnson & Johnson Nursing Simulation Lab — and to launch a new scholarship fund for first-generation nursing students.
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For nursing students, simulation labs have become one of the most important places on campus. Long before they treat a real patient, students use realistic scenarios in the lab to build clinical judgment and decision-making skills — the kind of split-second thinking that can’t be taught from a textbook alone.
The J&J gift will fund a new pharmacology lab alongside the updated simulation technology. It will also establish five $10,000 scholarships annually through the new Rutgers School of Nursing-Camden Johnson & Johnson Scholarship, aimed at first-generation students who might otherwise face financial barriers to entering the field.
Donna Nickitas, dean of Rutgers University School of Nursing–Camden, said the investment reaches further than the equipment itself.
“At Rutgers University School of Nursing–Camden, we are preparing nurses who are not only clinically excellent, but also compassionate, adaptive, and ready to lead in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape,” she said. “By modernizing our simulation learning environment and expanding scholarship support for first-generation nursing students, this initiative strengthens our ability to deliver a rigorous, practice-ready education while opening doors for talented students whose voices, experiences, and leadership are essential to the future of nursing.”
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The school marked the gift with a dedication ceremony earlier this month, drawing university leaders, Johnson & Johnson representatives, elected officials, faculty and students to formally open the upgraded facilities. The event also doubled as a nod to a much longer relationship — one that stretches back more than a century.
Howard Reid, Johnson & Johnson’s vice president of corporate brand and purpose, said the company has supported nurses since 1897, and this gift is an extension of that history.
“Nurses are the backbone of healthcare and are essential to advancing health outcomes,” Reid said. “This sponsorship to Rutgers-Camden reflects our longstanding commitment to elevating the critical role nurses play in healthcare delivery and strengthening the nursing workforce through education, innovation, and partnership.”
That commitment comes at a moment when New Jersey, like much of the country, is grappling with a persistent nursing shortage. School officials say a modernized lab won’t fix that problem overnight — but it will mean the next generation of Rutgers-Camden nurses steps into hospitals already fluent in the tools they’ll use to save lives.
For information about Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden, go to nursing.camden.rutgers.edu.
